Humans are emotional beings by nature, and these emotions have been used with persuasive tactics to generate preferred outcomes. Politically and ideologically, for instance, emotions have been used to attract like-minded individuals to get behind a particular cause. Can the same be done to save the environment? Williamson says that a big takeaway from this study is that understanding the functions of emotions can allow researchers and practitioners to advance the science of behavior change and be more effective in achieving environmental outcomes and interventions.
